nd-crop-weather STATE NORTH DAKOTA CROP, LIVESTOCK & WEATHER REPORT RELEASE DATE, MONTH ENDING DATE Released: March 5, 2007 For Month Ending: March 4, 2007 ISSUE ND-CW0907 AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY General: The first half of the month brought extreme cold and dry weather across the state while the last week experienced significant snowfall and milder temperatures, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Dakota Field Office. The heavy snowfall for the eastern half of the state at the end of the month provided excellent snow cover for alfalfa and winter wheat. However, more snow is needed in the western districts to provide adequate runoff for crops and stockwater supplies during the growing season. It is unknown how much damage occurred to the winter wheat and alfalfa during the cold weather. Producers were busy hauling grain where roads permitted travel. County and secondary roads were rated 71 percent open, 22 difficult and 7 closed to travel. Road conditions were 27 percent drifted, 26 icy, 6 muddy and 41 dry. Statewide, average snow cover was 11.0 inches on March 4, compared with 6.0 inches last year. The southeast and east central districts reported the most snow cover with 19.9 and 16.9 inches, respectively. The southwest reported the least snow cover with an average of 1.1 inches followed by 4.5 inches in the south central district. FIELD CROPS REPORT Crops: As of March 4, snow cover protection for alfalfa was rated 32 percent poor, 49 adequate and 19 excellent, while winter wheat was rated 23 percent poor, 47 adequate and 30 excellent. Farmers were busy considering crop options and purchasing inputs. LIVESTOCK, PASTURE AND RANGE REPORT Livestock: Long periods of extreme cold weather had producers worried about early calving, though there have not been any reports of abnormal death loss. Calving and lambing are in full-swing with 12 and 18 percent complete, respectively. Cattle conditions were rated 1 percent poor, 18 fair, 68 good and 13 excellent. Sheep conditions were rated 1 percent very poor, 2 poor, 19 fair, 64 good and 14 excellent. Hay and forage supplies were rated 3 percent very short, 11 short, 81 adequate and 5 surplus. WEATHER SUMMARY Weather: The first half of February proved to be extremely cold and extremely dry for the entire state. Arctic air clung to the state throughout the first two and a half weeks of the month as the jet stream was locked out of the north across the region which ushered in arctic air from Canada. With this pattern, there was very little precipitation during this period and much of the state experienced abnormally low winter snowfall. Some areas during this cold outbreak struggled to make it out of the negative numbers for highs for several days. Luckily this pattern broke down during the third week of February and ushered in more seasonal temperatures. With the upper level winds blowing from the southwest, moisture was able to work its way up into the state during the last week of February. Two major storm systems brought heavy snowfall to the eastern half of the state during the last week of the month and into the first two days of March. The first system spread heavy snow on a line from Devils Lake to Jamestown and east. The second storm began affecting the state during the last two days of the month and dropped over a foot of snow along the edge of the Red River Valley and brought blizzard conditions to the eastern half of the state. Most of the western half of the state was not affected tremendously by these systems and picked up little snowfall. Outlook, March: March looks like it started out above average in the temperature department for the entire state during the first week of the month with slightly above average precipitation for the eastern half of the state. This will transition to above average temperatures for the western half of the state into the second week of March with below average temperatures for the northeastern region of the state. Little precipitation will fall during this period as the jet stream will be blowing from western Canada. Overall, though, March will end up with near normal temperatures and precipitation for most of the state with just a slight chance of warmer than average temperatures for the southwestern corner of the state and slightly above average precipitation for the Red River Valley. WEATHER INFORMATION TABLES TEMPERATURE, February 1-28, 2007 District & Temperature Stations High Low Average Depart/Norm 1/ Degrees F Degrees F Degrees F Degrees F NORTHWEST NA NA NA NA Bowbells 40 -29 5 -10 Williston 45 -20 11 -7 Mohall 42 -27 5 -9 Minot 42 -25 8 -8 NORTH CENTRAL NA NA NA NA Baker 40 -29 4 -6 Bottineau 33 -34 1 -11 Rugby 39 -32 3 -9 NORTHEAST NA NA NA NA Cando 36 -36 1 -10 Cavalier 30 -36 3 -8 Forest River 34 -30 4 -8 Grand Forks 39 -29 4 -9 Langdon 30 -35 1 -8 St. Thomas 31 -34 3 -9 WEST CENTRAL NA NA NA NA Hazen 45 -30 10 -7 Turtle Lake 40 -25 14 -2 Watford City 45 -22 11 -7 CENTRAL NA NA NA NA Carrington 37 -27 4 -9 Harvey 39 -26 6 -8 Jamestown 37 -24 6 -9 Robinson 36 -30 5 -8 Streeter 37 -28 5 -10 EAST CENTRAL NA NA NA NA Dazey 38 -28 4 -9 Fargo 42 -24 7 -7 Hillsboro 38 -28 4 -10 SOUTHWEST NA NA NA NA Beach 47 -24 16 -5 Bowman 44 -26 16 -7 Dickinson 48 -23 14 -6 Hettinger 47 -26 15 -6 SOUTH CENTRAL NA NA NA NA Mandan 43 -27 9 -10 Linton 38 -25 8 -9 SOUTHEAST NA NA NA NA Edgeley 41 -22 8 -9 Oakes 40 -27 7 -9 Wyndmere 44 -26 7 -8 1/ Normal is the 1971-2000 average. NA=Not Available. Weather data collected from NDAWN stations and compiled by UND Aerospace Regional Weather Information Center. CONTACT INFORMATION USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Dakota Field Office Cooperating with: NDSU Extension Service, Farm Service Agency, ND Ag Weather Network (NDAWN) and UND Aerospace Regional Weather Information Center FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: David Knopf, Director USDA, NASS, North Dakota Field Office NDSU, IACC Bldg., Room 448 P.O. Box 3166 Fargo, ND 58108-3166 Telephone: (701) 239-5306 E-Mail: nass-nd@nass.usda.gov Internet: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/North_Dakota/